You have to hand it to Russia. In recent weeks, one move after another by Moscow over the Syrian crisis could be accompanied by the audible word "check," leaving Washington and its minions grappling with disorientation about how to respond to the Russian moves.

At the heart of the West's disorientation what is being exposed is its glaring criminal deceptions over Syria.

She said that if Washington insists that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should stand down, then the United States government should henceforth remove its signature from the 2012 Geneva Communique. The same logical ultimatum applies to Britain and France.

That communique, signed three years ago by international governments, as well as the United Nations, European Union and Arab League, clearly states that "the political future of Syria must be determined by the Syrian people themselves."

The binding document had followed lengthy negotiations between Russia, China and the Western powers, and it was signed in Geneva in the summer of 2012 under the auspices of then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Hillary Clinton was the US Secretary of State at the time.

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Nowhere in the Geneva accord is it mentioned that Syria's Assad should relinquish power.

It merely endorses a political process of dialogue among Syrian parties, the outcome of which is to be mandated by the Syrian people. In fact, two years after the communique was signed, the Syrian people voted by a huge majority to re-elect Assad as the country's leader.

Yet Western powers continue to assert that Assad "has to go."

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel this week appeared to break the Western ranks when she said that Bashar al-Assad must be part of the political negotiations to solve the Syrian conflict.

Nevertheless, Washington, Britain and France remain implacable in their insistence that the Syrian president has to stand down. In other words, these Western powers are unilaterally demanding regime change in spite of the fact that they signed up to the Geneva Communique, which makes no such stipulation. With typical unreasonable arrogance, Washington and its allies appoint themselves to over-ride the sovereign right of the Syrian nation.

Last week, while in London, Clinton's successor John Kerry repeated the American demand that "Assad must go." Speaking alongside his British counterpart Philip Hammond, Kerry said he was open to talks with Russia on the Syrian crisis, but that the bottom-line for Washington and London was that the Syrian leader had to vacate office.

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"We're prepared to negotiate. Is Assad prepared to negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to bring him to the table?" said Kerry.

The New York Times elucidated further Washington's intentions. It reported: "[American] officials indicated that the larger goal was to draw the Russians into a political process that would ultimately replace Syria's government of President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of the Kremlin."

Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesman, has subsequently nailed that Western lie on Syria. If Washington insists on Assad's removal, then the US government should repudiate the Geneva Communique. "Otherwise," said Zakharova, "the US is deceiving everybody." Check!

Author and journalist. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master's graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal (more...)

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Author Mark Taliano combines years of research with on-the-ground observations to present an informed and well-documented analysis that refutes the mainstream media narrative.